Mental health staff recruitment plan for England – BBC News

Thousands more mental health workers are to be recruited by the NHS in England, the health secretary has said.

The plans involve increasing the number of trained nurses, therapists and other mental health professionals.

Jeremy Hunt said it was time to end the “historic imbalance” between mental and physical health services.

But Labour says the plans “offer little hope” to those already in the sector, “promising only jam tomorrow, when what is needed is action today”.

The government said an extra 1bn already promised for mental health services in England will fund the scheme.

Ministers in England have previously acknowledged that the treatment offered to patients with mental health problems suffers in comparison with those with physical ailments.

In 2016, the government committed 1.3bn to transform mental health services in England, with a pledge to treat an extra one million patients by 2020-21.

Crisis care

These plans set out how some of that money will be spent – mostly on recruiting staff, with the main focus being on child and adolescent mental health services, therapists delivering talking therapies for adults and nurses working in crisis care.

The plans also include improving staff training, encouraging those who have left the profession to return, and addressing a high dropout rate among trainees.

However, data published last week showed that even before this latest recruitment drive, many thousands of nursing posts remain unfilled.